My Story
by HelplessLover
Summary: A little story I threw together when i was bored. It has stuff from the Vampire Academy and the house of night, so enjoy! Yay. Read and review PLZ!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

I arrived at my dorm room nearly an hour late. _Ohmygod. _I thought to myself. _Rachel is going to kill me. _I had been out all morning shopping for the perfect outfits for me and Rachel tonight. Mine was a classic Jenny, which is me, outfit. A swirled rainbow tank top made with some silky material. It had lace trim and straps. The short shorts were dyed a dark navy and had faux rips on them. Rachel's outfit was somewhat different. Her shirt was a plain green v-neck. I also bought her dark skinnys with brown cowboy boots to go with them. _We are gonna look H-O-T. _I told myself as I burst through the door to my dorm.

"Hello." I yelled.

"'bout time you got back." Came the reply. Rachel came out from around the corner to the practice room and snatched her bag from my hands. She hurried away to the nearest bathroom to change.

I myself retreated to my royal blue bedroom and dressed myself in 5 minutes. Then I crossed the room to my floor to ceiling mirror. _Damn, I look good._ I thought to myself. My makeup was still evenly coated, eyeliner making my blue eyes pop. My dark brown and blond streaked hair hung to my waist in careful beach waves. In contrast with my unnaturally pale skin. Happy, I went to the main room. "I'm ready." I yelled to no one in particular.

Rachel emerged from the bathroom 3 seconds later, looking like a freaking supermodel. Her emerald eyes were the first thing I noticed. Her usually straight fiery red hair was hanging in waves to her shoulders. Her skin was twin to mine. Very pale.

You see, Rachel and I are not what you would call normal people. We couldn't even be called people at all. Vampires, was a word often used to describe us. But, almost none of the stupid rumors you hear are true. We do drink blood, but Rachel and I drink animal blood, twice a week. It keeps us as strong as human blood, but it just tastes a little different. Rachel prefers it, but I like it ok. Not as much as human blood, but whatever, I don't like using humans for blood. It just seems wrong. Another rumor is that we can't go into sunlight without burning, but we can. We are born vampires, but we stop aging in the range of 15 to 35 years old. Rachel and i stopped right at 17. We were some of the lucky ones. We are not genetic dead ends; we can still… well, you get the idea. Forget stakes (stupid rumors). And we can eat really anything, but we don't like to. And we do need sleep.

I am the stronger of us, but only because I was trained that way. I could read the minds of people in a mile radius. Control elements to an extent. Dream walk. Stuff like that. Rachel could bend others to her will. She also was very gifted at reading others emotional climates, and also elemental control like me, with some of the dream walking abilities, but not as strong as what I do. Standard vamp gifts. Some are born without the gifts, so they train as fighters, like I did.

I heard a horn honk outside. Our ride was there. Rachel was at the door in record time, yelling "Hey baby." to her boyfriend, Taylor. Taylor was a werewolf, and the whole reason we were in this town anyway. He and Rachel fell in love at the school where we were all senior, about 5 years ago. It was strictly forbidden. And somehow the 'supreme overlords' (we liked to call them that) found out. Scheduled for extermination, they broke away and I helped them find a safe place to live. We were virtually inseparable after that.

Turns out, our birthday surprise was, we were heading to the fair! Rachel piled into the front and planted a kiss on Taylor's cheek. I slid in the back right after.

Taylor peeled out. Heading in the general direction of the fair. Soon we arrived and parked. 5. Blocks. Away.

After we walked for what seemed like forever, we crossed the under the ivory archway and entered the world of yelling people, sweet smells, insanely cool rides, and dirty, smelly, fair workers. Yay! I was suddenly glad that we had hunted last night.

"I am so excited!" Rachel squealed. Half to me and half to her boy. I laughed. _Wait! What was that? _My mind screamed at me. This boy had crossed my path in a matter of seconds and already had my undivided attention. He turned and his dark brown eyes met mine and held me there. Captivated. Then he broke the connection, and I immediately missed it. But then he was gone. He disappeared into the swirling mass of people. _Was he for real? _I asked myself. He seemed like such a mystery. _Wait._ I mentally shook myself. _You're here to have fun, not obsess over some boy. Not again._ So I turned away to my friends still attached to the hip, but now there were a few more people around them that I recognized from around town. Our little clique, some would say. I asked "What should we do first?"

"Orbiter." Taylor suggested

"Kamikaze" Rachel replied at the same time.

About half a dozen other suggestions were thrown out there before I decided. "Why don't we go to the Orbiter first, that will get us jazzed up."

"Yay!" Rachel giggled. She looked pretty hyper, like she was about to explode. Taylor looked as calm as ever though. But I was used to that. It took a lot to get him hyper. I snapped out of my reverie when I saw my favorite ride. The Orbiter! My excitement was short-lived though because my eyes caught the gaze of the same dark eyes they had found earlier. This time when he turned away, I caught a glimpse of his dark brown hair with a partial sun bleach. His skin was so pale. Pale as moonlight. Paler than… Rachel and I, who remained tan enough to not burn and not attract attention by being pale. _No way._ I told myself. There wasn't any vamps beside us in this area. Far away, I felt Rachel tugging on my arm, urging me foreword. While I was daydreaming, we had made it to the front of the line and we were now getting on the ride. I mentally shook myself again and hurried to get a good seat, just as it started up. The two-person seat started to spin around, while the whole thing spun at a different speed. Soon the arms of the ride were sticking straight out over the crowd. Ohmygod! I loved this ride! It gave me a sense of exhilaration that I also loved. But, for some reason, it made me think of my mystery man. His dark eyes. His coy half-smile. His pale complexion. I just couldn't get him out of my head. His image was fixed behind my eyelids, so I saw him anew whenever I closed my eyes. I threw my head back and mentally asked myself. _Why? Not again! Not tonight! _I had fallen for another boy, just like this. He was a human around 80 years ago. But he was dead and gone now. It nearly tore me apart when it happened. After that, I unconsciously locked up my heart. Emotions coursed through me. Anger, sadness, confusion, just to name a few. The ride came to a stop.

I was getting pretty steamed, so I locked my problems up in my mental drawer, nice and tight, and began to enjoy myself again. I laughed and danced with my friends as we passed from ride to ride. I almost forgot about the boy, but not completely. I decided that I had calmed down enough to ask Rachel the question that had been eating at me for awhile. "Rachel?" I asked softly.

"Yeah," Came her reply as she twirled out of Taylor's arms; she dropped back a little to where I was. "What's up?"

"I saw this boy earlier. He had dark hair, very dark brown eyes, about yea tall." I held my hand above my head about six inches to emphasize my point " and his skin was pale, like ours."

"What about him?" She looked confused

"I think he might be a vamp."

"No way." She replied. "Like from the school or something?"

"Yes." I amended, looking away. "But don't worry, if he is from the school, I won't let him near you."

"O. K." She seemed on edge. And, as if on cue, the mystery boy appeared, staring at me again. I turned away, scared out of my wits, but ready to defend if necessary. Then I saw where I, my friends, and the mystery boy were going. The Ferris wheel. The classic romantic ride. Oh great. The line was massive! I would never be able to get Rachel, Taylor, and I out if the mystery boy decided to attack. It didn't help that it was close to closing time. It also didn't help that the mystery man got into the line right behind me.

But, weirdly, the walk through the Ferris wheel line passed in a blur to me, and before I knew it, I was standing in front of the navy blue basket that was my seat for the next 15 minutes. I sat, and started to stare out over the crowd of people. I began sulking; remembering how me and my now-passed-away-boyfriend used to sit on the Ferris wheel together, just talking. I felt a shudder as someone else got on. I jumped a little with surprise. It was the mystery guy! He settled in across me. A bold move, considering I was scared, and I'm dangerous to others when I'm scared. I turned around briefly to get Rachel's attention and mouthed. _What do I do? _Her only response was a scared look_. _And she spoke with her mind. _Go with it. Don't make him angry. _And a wave of her hand that probably meant, _Turn around, I'm gonna be busy in a second. _So I turned around. Face to face with Mystery Boy.

"Hello." He interjected. Oh, god, even his voice was wonderful! _Snap out of it, _I told myself. _He might be the enemy._

"Hi." I replied simply, feeling sheepish.

"I'm Jake," He stuck out his hand. I took it, then immediately dropped it. His hand was just the right temperature! I was positive in that moment that he was a vampire. Otherwise his temp would be higher.

"Um, I'm Jenny." I stuttered. I could still feel his hand on mine.

He shifted over to my side of the metal basket that was carrying us up, making it sway slightly. Once again, I turned to face Rachel and get her help. But Rachel was otherwise occupied by Taylor. Occupied as in, they were in kiss mode. Something that I had only seen one other time, and did not want to see just then. I turned back and faced Jake, feeling just a little sick. He smiled a little at me, so I guess my expression must have betrayed how I was feeling, which made me smile a little too. A question formed in my mind.

"Why are you here?" I asked rudely, attempting to get answers.

"Well my parents got assigned new jobs, so we all packed up and…"

"No," I interrupted "I mean why are you here?" I pointed to the bottom of the metal basket "With me?"

He looked me straight in the eyes "I don't really know." He relented. He spoke like he was truly confused. "I felt like I had to, and I don't know why." He looked down "I don't really know very many people here. Just thought I would get acquainted" He looked at me for a brief second, then looked away.

The basket then shuddered to a stop at the top most point of the Wheel. I could see everything. Includind every way I could use to get away from Him. I called to Rachel with my mind. _Help me! _She turned and saw the panicked expression on my face. Then started her compulsion. I could tell because I had felt this before from her, and blocked it. _Don't do that to me. _I screamed in her head. Jake turned to me with a puzzeled look on his face. Then asked "Can I hang with you guys?"

"Sure," I mumbled, still dizzy from the compulsion, then I looked down just as the Wheel started moving again. The passage down this time was very fast and soon we were being hurried out of the basket and back onto the gravel. Rachel and Taylor were thrown out soon after. Taking an opportunity as she passed, she elbowed me in the ribs and lifted her eyebrows. It was some kind of signal. She and Taylor were just holding hands now. Their eyes flicked from me, to Jake, and back again. _Oh, duh, _I realized. _They want me to introduce him. _

"Jake, this is Katie and Tyler. Tyler, and Katie, this is Jake" I used fake names, just in case. An awkward silence followed.

"Hey! Why don't we ditch this place and go somewhere more fun?" Rachel cut into the silence.

"Where?" I asked.

"You'll see." She replied mysteriously and began to drag me and Taylor away.

Without thinking, I grabbed Jakes arm and pulled him along with us. "C'mon!" We all ran till we found our car. Rachel and Taylor piled into the front, while Jake and I squeezed into the back, side by side. Rachel had the wheel and was speeding away before we had even closed the doors. She drove like a maniac for about 10 minutes, but it seemed like more. Probably because I was super aware of every move Jake made, and ready to counter it.

Rachel turned around and said "Relax!" to me. I did almost immediately. Stupid compulsion. But I didn't fight it this time. I really did need to relax. I turned my head to stare out of the window for the rest of the ride.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Dalmatian Beach!" I yelled to the sky. Or at least, that's what me and Rachel called it. Probably the best beach out here. And the most romantic. _And just before sunset too! _I thought_._

I don't know how he got there so fast, but before I knew it, my car door was wide open and Jake had my arm, ushering me out. His specialty must be speed. I stepped out into the fading sunlight, my new flip flops already sinking into a patch of pure white sand. The whole reason we called this beach Dalmatian Beach was because the sand was pure white, and had patches of pitch black sand all over the place! The perfect place to have a bonfire. I guessed that was what we were going to do, because Taylor was already back with an armful of driftwood.

I turned to explain to Jake about the beach, but I couldn't find him. Had he ditched us? I didn't know how I knew, but for some reason, I knew that he was still nearby. Soon, he came crashing through the underbrush beside me, carrying this big stack of emergency firewood. _Hmm. _I wondered_. Is he trying to show off?_ I had gotten used to the speedy way Taylor did things lately. Like he had to do the thing right now, as fast as he could. I headed back to the car to get the blankets. There were, very conveniently, four of them. _Seems like everything was in four's tonight_. I thought, while staring pointedly at Rachel till she laughed. _She must have known that I would find someone to hang with tonight. _But, the prospect that he might be from the school was still terrifying. We had all been trying to hone our special skills after leaving the school, especially because we had learned all we could from there.

I was amazed to find, when I spread two of the blankets down beside the starting fire, that Jake and Taylor were gone again. I wondered briefly where they went, and I could tell Rachel was thinking the same thing. She was looking over her shoulder every 10 seconds. Probably hoping her "Mancake" would come back soon. And that Jake wasn't picking us off one by one. I laughed out loud.

"What?" Rachel's voice cut through my epiphany.

"Oh, nothing" I replied, barely able to contain my giggles as I glanced over my shoulder. I had to do a double take. There were Jake and Taylor! Walking and laughing like old friends. That was a major surprise to me because I thought that they had taken an immediate dislike to each other. Rachel was beaming. _Maybe he isn't here for us._ She thought.

"Maybe, but be on your guard" I replied out loud.

"I always am," she answered "but, I can hope, can't I."

"Sure" I confessed.

The boys soon plopped down beside us. They looked so happy that Rachel and I just had to smile. I watched Jake with careful eyes as he stared into the growing flames of our makeshift bonfire. I wanted to absorb every detail of how he looked. It had occurred to me earlier that I may need to find him another day for one reason or another. I wanted to remember as much as I could about him. To me, he looked completely at ease. His hair was ruffled slightly in the waning breeze. His pale skin, tinted orange by the firelight. His impossibly deep, brown eyes that suddenly turned toward me. His eyes stared into my soul. I studied his eyes, attempting to read him as he studied me right back. I felt like he suddenly knew me better than I knew myself. I looked away. No, I wouldn't fall into his tricks.

A very conspicuous clearing of the throat came from somewhere beside me. _Oh crap. I forgot about Rachel. _I turned. Rachel and Taylor were both staring at us and grinning like idiots. Rachel was nestled comfortably against Taylor's chest, and he seemed to be enjoying every second of it.

Suddenly Rachel pointed at me "You. Come. Now." She growled and pulled me down towards the surf.

"What?" I asked, kind of scared.

She turned toward me. The look on her face was pure terror. She spoke "I saw something. Not much though. I saw fire. The town was burning." Then her features turned sad. "Our fault. It was all our fault."

I looked her straight in the eyes. "That won't happen. I promise. They won't find us here."

Then I turned on my gay voice, attempting to lighten the mood. A rare novelty these days. "now. Lets forget all about this for now. And get you back to your man over there" That got a pretty good laugh from her. Followed by an evil smile.

"Wait here." She said and ran off.

"But…" I began to protest, but she was already gone. She returned a minute later with Jake and Taylor in tow. She stopped abruptly and shooed Jake towards me. I caught that evil grin as it flicked across Rachel's features again. She said "Were going for a little walk on the beach. Do whatever you want, but were going to meet here again later. I don't really care when. Just call before you come looking for us. K?"

"K" I answered. I was barely able to contain the mix of terror from the prospect of being alone with a potentially dangerous vamp, and irritation at Rachel that suddenly welled up inside of me. _All alone. _I thought, with the mysterious Jake. I turned toward him.

Apparently, he felt the same. His features were pulled tight, tense, and they were colored with indecision, pain, and a little bit of pure terror. _Do I scare him? _I turned my face downward a began my purposeful walk off.

I had gone about 20 yards back toward the fire before I heard it "Wait." Jake was yelling after me. "Hey, wait up." I glanced back. He was jogging to catch up to me. I turned back to face the fire and continued my retreat toward it, only now, a little faster. "Wait" I heard Jake say. Right behind me. He caught my arm just as I entered the circle of light the fire cast. I whirled around to face him.

"What do you want?" I spat. He looked hurt. "Don't touch me."

He looked straight into my eyes. Genuinely confused. "I want to know why you ran away. Do I scare you? Or do you hate me?"

"I don't hate you." I answered, still mad

He grabbed my shoulders and stared at me. "The thing is, I really do like you. I really do."

"Ok." I relented, relaxing in his grip a little. "But I do know that you're keeping things from me. Important things, and things I will find out, sooner or later." That statement caused him to look away. Resigned to his own thoughts.

"I wish you wouldn't," He replied. "It would make this much easier."

"What?" Now I was confused

"Us." He replied then kissed my forehead. "It would be much easier if you weren't trying to figure me out every second we're together."

"Is there even an us?" I asked.

"I would like that." Jake replied simply. He was smiling shyly. "If you want to."

"No. I can't." I replied

"The sunset!" He broke in randomly.

Turns out that we were so preoccupied that we had missed most of the sunset. But, I turned around toward the water just in time to see the sun slip the last few feet below the horizion. I sighed and spread my arms. "I love sunsets." I confessed.

"I think everyone loves sunsets." Jake sounded hurt and rejected. I didn't blame him. He **was** just rejected.

"True" I amended

"Oh, well look here." A voice that was coming from behind me said bitterly. I felt Jake turn. Too fast, once again.

I gazed up over Jake's shoulder. His body was rigid.

"Michael?" I realized, amazed that he found me. "What are you doing here?" I thought I had ditched him years ago.

"I followed you." He replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"For three years?" I practically yelled. Michael was my ex-boyfriend. My human ex-boyfriend.

"Yeah" He looked down at the sand, ashamed.

Jake stepped in front of me protectively "I think it's time you leave."

"Wait just a minute." Michael spat at Jake "I want to talk to her." He pointed at me. Then resumed his stare down with Jake. I could feel the tension in the air, so I broke in before they resorted to fists. I stepped in between them.

"Wait." I said, holding my hands up in a gesture of peace. "Why don't you head to find Rachel." I told Jake. "I want to hear what he has to say."

"Fine." Jake spat. He turned and stalked off.

After Jake was well out of earshot I turned to Michael. "What is it?" I crossed my arms.

He took me by the shoulders, not unlike what Jake had done earlier. "I needed to break in and talk to you. I can't let you go out with him. You don't know what I know about him."

I brushed his hands off and returned his glance with a glare. "I don't believe that's your decision to make, Michael."

"No." He started reaching for me. "I can't let you go out with that… thing."

_Too close, _I thought, and with practiced moves, I grabbed his wrist and twisted him around so he was facing the trees. I kicked legs from under him and flipped him as I did. He landed face down in a patch of black sand. Al this happened in the space of a second.

Still gripping Michael's arm, I bent over him and whispered. "Touch me again, and I break your arm." For emphasis I gave his arm another twist then stalked off.

As I was walking, I heard him give a tearful reply. "I tried to help you. I tried to save you. But you just won't listen will you?" I stopped and turned to give a smart-ass reply, but stopped. He was standing, still as stone "Fine. Have a nice life."

My reply was soft, but it projected just like I wanted it to. "That's all I ever asked for." I heard Michael punch something, hard, as he retreated in the opposite direction.

Then, I broke. I fell to the ground, stunned at seeing Michael again, after all these years. It was just. There was a certain quality about him that made me so angry and sad, all at the same time. I felt all alone. But not for long. Soon, Jake burst out of the trees and was at my side in a second. He wrapped his arms around me tightly. "What's wrong?" He asked furiously. "Did he hurt you?"

I pushed him off "No, no. It was nothing like that. I just can't bear to see him after all these years."

"Well I'm glad he's gone."

I stood "Yeah." I agreed as Jake carefully stood up after me "We should get to Rachel and Taylor and head off."

"I already called them." Jake replied mysteriously.

"What?" I asked. "How…?" But I broke off when I saw what he was holding. My cell phone!

"They're waiting at the car for us." Jake explained and handed me back my phone.

"Thanks." I grumbled, and Jake began to laugh silently. I couldn't help it. I started to laugh also. Soon we were laughing so hard we couldn't breath.

But a question still nagged at me. "How did u get my phone?"

He smiled a little "I'm maaagic!"

Suddenly serious, I turned toward him. "Really. Tell me."

He sighed. "I can't tell you."

I looked away angrily and put more distance between us. _Why can't he just spit it out? I already know he's a vamp. What more is there to tell? _I asked myself as we entered the space where the car was parked. Rachel and Taylor were already there, leaning on the side of the convertible. They probably sensed the tension between Jake and I because Rachel broke rank and rushed away from the car. She rushed over and pulled me into a loose hug. She sympathized with me and said "Let's go home." Then she ushered me into the back of the car. Jake came after. He took my hand almost immediately. I shook it off.

"Leave me be." I grumbled, still mad. "If you can't trust me, then I can't trust you."

The car ride to our dorm seemed much faster than the trip down to the beach. Rachel and I got out of the car right when the car pulled into the driveway. I didn't care. I just wanted to get inside and spill all to Rachel. Apparently she wanted the same thing because she was radiating excitement. I entered my bedroom and practically shoved Rachel in after me. She settled down on one side of my bed while I locked the door, making the room completely secure.

After I was done, I sat down opposite Rachel. Taking a deep breath to prepare, I spoke. "O.K. here's what happened. Me and Jake were all happy and stuff. He had just technically asked me to be his girlfriend. I said no. Then, Michael bursts in and interrupts. He claimed he wanted to talk to me. He tried to get me to break up with Jake. Even though I said no."

"What did you do?" Rachel asked, enthralled by my tale.

"I twisted him, threw him onto the ground, threatened him, and then left." I sighed "I sat down in shock. But, then Jake came back and comforted me. And, turns out, he had my phone."

"That must be why he was the one to call me." Rachel realized.

"Yeah, but when I asked him about it, he made jokes then got all silent."

"That must have irked you." Came the reply.

"It did! I mean why would…"

My cell rang. Interrupting my little tirade. I fell silent halfway through the sentence. The number wasn't any I recognized. I let it ring and passed it off as a wrong number. "Anyway…" I tried again, but then my voicemail ringtone started up. I stared at the phone, clearly in shock.

"Well… Answer it." Rachel broke into my reverie. I picked up the now silent phone and flicked it open. I shakily dialed the number for my voicemail and turned on the speaker button. When I hit my message box, a smooth voice floated through the speaker. Jake's voice.

It said "Hello. This is Jake, if you didn't know that already. I completely understand that you didn't want to talk to me tonight, but I would like a second chance with you. I can't tell what I'm keeping from you. No one else knows about it except for my family, if that makes you feel a little better. If you'll give me that second chance, I will be at the edge of the forest at around three. I'll be there for awhile before also. Hope to see you there. Bye." A click sounded, followed by the various message saving options. I just saved it, then snapped my phone shut.

"You have to go!" Rachel protested when she read the emotions on my face. She was almost too good at knowing what I felt at any time. I picked up my skills at reading people from being around her for 205 years.

"I know I have to." I sighed and flopped down on my bed "I can't not go." I was asleep almost before I heard Rachel's reply. It sounded something like "YES!" or "good." But what did I know. I was mostly asleep.

That night, I dreamed of Jake. Us at the beach, watching the sunset, laying side by side and watching the stars, walking through a forest. I had so many, I couldn't remember them all. But, my pleasure quickly turned to terror as my dreams turned into nightmares. There was only one. It started happy, but I wasn't fooled. Jake and I walking through the forest, hand in hand. The shadows all around us were cast into a false twilight by the trees above us, tinting the world green. The air felt tense and foreboding, filled with electricity. Jake was leading me into even more dense trees where the light began to wane. Suddenly, Jake turned. He shouted something I couldn't hear, then pushed me behind himself. "What?" I tried to say, but I couldn't get a sound out. Then, I saw it. The beast was lurking in the shadows probably the whole time we were there. Thank goodness Jake saw it. Now we had to get out of there. Before that thing attacked us. I tried to pull Jake away, but he was rooted to the spot in fear. The creature lunged. This time I actually got in a scream, but again, I couldn't hear anything.

In a last-ditch attempt to save Jake, I threw myself in front of the creature. It jumped over me. I felt the thud it made as it landed. Then, to my surprise, my hearing returned. The first thing I heard was the thing's feral growls and snarls. It was clearly angry. I turned to face it slowly, then gasped. It was right behind me, but that wasn't the thing that scared me the most. No. The thing that scared me the most was the creature was a werewolf! It had golden eyes and light fur. Just like Michael's eyes and hair.

Then, it did something really unexpected. It turned around, and bounded away. Like it was scared of me.

I stood there in shock for a little. Then I heard a soft sound. It was Jake. I dropped down beside him. _Oh god. _I thought. He was covered in blood from the wolf's claws. Tears started rolling down my cheeks. I pulled him onto my lap, holding his head and shoulders up. Unexpectedly, he pulled me into a weak hug. I had no choice but to hug him back. Then my vision slipped away. Leaving my dreams to darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

I awoke to the sound of some new hip hop music wafting from my alarm/radio. I bolted upright, only to find that I was tightly wrapped in the sheets. "Just great." I muttered to myself. I hadn't tangled myself in sheets since my first year at the school, when I had nightmares about a stalker. I gently attempted to free myself from the silky material. Then hit the edge of my bed. I tried to lean back and balance myself.

Too late. I fell to the floor. "Ow." I mumbled just as Rachel burst into the room. She yelled "What? What happened?" All while wielding a spatula. Then she saw me on the floor and began to chuckle to herself. She dropped to the floor beside me and began to help me free myself from my silk prison.

"How did you get like that?" Rachel asked just as I freed myself.

"Bad dream." I replied.

"Well It's about ten o'clock, so you better get ready." Rachel got up and exited my bedroom.

I picked myself up from the floor, carefully avoiding my new aches. And, being the meticulous person that I was, I had to make my bed before I left the room. I entered the kitchen soon after. Soon, I understood why Rachel was up and happy like this. Taylor was back from his morning run already. And judging by the fresh flowers in the vase, he had brought a special treat this morning. He had a mound of stuff on a plate. Bacon, eggs, toast, sausage, the works, because he, being a werewolf, ate like 10 normal people would. It was amazing.

After Taylor had finished I took his plate and washed his dish thoroughly, I hurried to the bathroom to get ready.

At 11, I stepped out, fully dressed. Every hair in place. With another hour to find out where the hell I was supposed to be at noon. I slipped out into the garage and into my eclipse. After driving around for 15 mins, trying to find the stupid place, my phone chimed the first three seconds of Don't trust me by 3Oh!3 before I opened it. I was a text from Jake. It said "Three blocks west. One block north" _How did he know? _I wondered as I carefully complied with the directions.

At 11:45 I pulled up to the edge of the famous Marks Forest. Appropriately named after our town. I edged out of the car and scanned the horizon. Thunderheads were coming in from the west. Good sign. We would get one hell of a storm before the day was over. My god, I loved storms. So it was probably a good thing I was out here now.

Out of the mist, Jake emerged. He slowly made his way toward me. In spite of myself, I smiled a little. But, my smile was quickly wiped away when I realized what I'd been missing about this scene. It was the same forest from my nightmare! A chill ran through me. _No way. _I told myself. _No way._

Jake reached me then and took my hand. I didn't stop him. Then he led me through the trees. It was like a total flashback. The air was thicker; charged with energy. Everything was tinted green. Unconsciously, I leaned in to him. He casually placed his arm around my waist and held me closer. I was too preoccupied to notice. He leaned down to my ear and whispered. "I'm glad you came."

"So am I." I replied, then I added softly and hoped he couldn't hear. "I think." I was a little preoccupied with scanning the foliage for strange shapes, like werewolves.

There was still no sign of it when I was led into a clearing. In the middle was a picnic blanket, a basket, and 2 drink glasses. I gasped "Did you do this?"

"Of course." Jake replied smoothly and then sat down. I followed suit.

"Wait." I stopped him as he began to reach for the food. "I ate not that long ago. Can we put it on hold?" It was a major cop out, but I didn't feel like pretending to eat now.

"Sure." He replied, apparently he didn't feel like pretending either, and brought his hand out of the basket. "But answer this. Why are you so tense and on edge? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Close to it." I replied, scanning the area again.

"What?" He asked. I turned toward to him, expecting a confused face. His features looked ashamed with just a little of the confusion I expected. I decided that I could get some info out of him now.

"I know what you are." I told him. "and I know what you're here for. I told you that you wouldn't be able to keep your secrets from me for long."

"Oh really? What do you think I am?" He asked. Cocky jerk. Well two could play that game.

"Oh, well maybe I don't want to divulge my knowledge yet." I replied just as boldly

"Why not?" he smirked

"well, fine, you're a vampire."

"Very good; are you scared?" now he looked intimidating

"No." I stared back

He laughed eerily. "Well that's a pretty stupid move for a human."

"You didn't let me finish." I replied "I'm not scared because I'm a vampire too. A trained one. And I swear, if you are from the school, I will tear you apart." Hoping my tough reputation preceded me.

Now Jake looked terrified. "You're the one they talk about so much?" He backed up a couple of inches. I guess that he knew all about me.

"Yes."

"Look. I graduated from the school, and I came here to have a somewhat normal life. OK?"

"I'm not entirely convinced." I glared at him. "Do you drink from humans?"

"Yes" he answered. "Is there any other way?"

"OK. Ill tell you later. It's very complicated. Oh, and by the way. My trust is something you have to earn. Not something I give away." I amended, relaxing a little.

"Forgive me for asking. But are any of the rumors true?" Jake inquired "The one about you breaking Rachel and Taylor out of the cell? The one about you taking down hounds on the run? The one about having an affinity with all elements, metal, and most psychic stuff?"

"Yes, yes, and yes." I answered, a little distracted with scanning for a wolf.

"What are you looking for?" He asked. Clearly he noticed that I was searching.

"A wolf." I answered curtly. "If you see one, tell me immediately."

"Sure." He answered. Then threw the basket so that It imploded on the nearest tree. "I guess we don't need that."

A shadow moved. Jake saw it first and maneuvered himself in front of me. I whispered as the shadow took the relative shape of a wolf. "good job, now run." He didn't move. The wolf crouched. "Now, idiot."

"No." He answered, stiff as a board. The wolf lunged, and I threw myself in front of Jake, throwing him back. Then I heard the surprised yell from him as he landed, probably ten feet away. I barely heard; I was too preoccupied with the massive werewolf on top of me. I winced and gave a small pained cry as one set of claws dug into my forearm and another settled onto my ribs, making it hard to breath. It growled at me angrily. I glared right back, survival instincts kicking in. I grabbed it's front paw and channeled earth.

A tree bent over above us and settled down half under the beast. I let go and so did the tree. The pressure on me lessened just as Jake rammed into the wolf's side. The force of the impact, combined with the force of the tree snapping up completely flipped the wolf off of me. I was up in a fraction of a second, right by Jake's side. He centered himself and then did something I had only seen once before. The ground heaved, sending the wolf flying. It hit a tree with a thud, then came right back.

Jake backed away quickly, seeing that it was coming for him. It snapped at him once, tearing a hole in his navy shirt and leaving a spot of blood. I charged at the beast and hit it hard. It didn't budge, but it did pause for a second. Then started again. It pounced on Jake the same way it had on me. Only I could see the damage it did to him was worse than mine. The werewolf lowered it's head and I decided to do something I hadn't done in awhile. Total mental attack. I entered it's head and separated the brain from the rest of it's body, killing it instantly. Then I rammed it, and with Jake's help, I managed to get it pushed over.

I gathered Jake in my arms to begin the healing. Quickly, before I lost my hold on the psychic power in me. I opened the rest of his shirt. _Shame. _I thought briefly. _It was a nice shirt._ Then I touched the wounds. They were deep, and worrisome, but nothing I couldn't handle. They soon closed over, completely healed. I released the power, and looked into his eyes. They showed the ghost of some pain, but what they showed me the most was astonishment "They didn't teach you that in school did they?" I asked.

He shook his head weakly in response.

Without thinking I transferred my last energy into him, and stood up. God, that was stupid. And I fell back to the ground. I lay there for a little, groaning in pain, and I gritted my teeth together. _My injuries must be more than I thought._ I told myself. I passed out just as I felt Jake's arms wrap around me, holding me halfway up.

I awoke some time later, feeling weak. Jake was shaking me and yelling at me to wake up. Tears were rolling down his face and his eyes looked haunted. I tried to speak, but couldn't at the time. Relief washed over Jake's face as he saw my eyes open. Then I looked down and closed my eyes again. My shirt was covered in blood, which explained why I had fainted. I concentrated hard and then spoke. "Get… Me… To… Rachel." I muttered.

"Sure, sure." He replied as he picked me up in his arms. Then, the trees started flashing by like strobe lights. God, I would never get used to vamp running. It was too fast for my liking. Soon, I was being set down in the back seat of a Porsche. Jake got in the front and started driving immediately. He kept up a steady stream of encouragements all the way to my house. Things like "Stay with me." And. "I'll take care of you." Meanwhile, I'm in the back, fighting to stay conscious.

Before I knew it, Rachel opened the door. She shouted at Jake to get away, and maneuvered herself to the side of me. She quickly found my injuries then healed them. She had always been much more gifted than I was at healing and that sort of stuff. I immediately felt better. But magic like that takes it's toll on people and she started to look downright exhausted

Rachel dragged me out of the car and handed me to Jake. Then she led him to my room, while giving him a quick tour of the house. I heard a slam of a door, so I bet Rachel retired to her room for a nap. I was set down on my bed gently after that, and before he left, I could swear that Jake leaned down and kissed my cheek. Then he was gone, leaving me alone to sleep. Which, surprisingly, happened really fast.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

When I drifted awake, some time later, my phone was ringing furiously. I checked the number. Michael. I ignored it.

When it finally stopped ringing I checked my messages. There were 5, and they were all from Jake. I opened them quickly. They all said the same thing. "If you get this, I hope you are feeling better. Call me. Jake." So I did

He answered eagerly on the first ring. "Hello."

"Hi" I responded groggily. "Um, you wanted me to call?"

"Yeah, um, do you want to get together later. I'm still not used to the day schedule, so…"

"Sure!" I interrupted, excited that I was getting the chance to go out at night with another vamp. "What are we gonna do?"

"Swimming." He replied happily. And my thoughts went wild with a thousand questions. _Are we going to sneak somewhere? What's gonna happen? What am I going to wear? _Were some of the more prominant ones. Then my thoughts stopped dead in their tracks as I thought of the perfect swimsuit. My red one with the little blue bow on the side. It fit me best out of all the swimsuits I own and it was very sexy. Perfect.

"Where?"

"Harmon. At nine." He answered simply

"Nine. Got it. See you then." I hung up. "Rachel." I yelled.

She burst into the room. "What?"

"I have a date!" I squealed "Night swimming with Jake!"

"What?" she repeated, this time in surprise

"Swimming." I said slowly "At night. With Jake."

"Yeah, I got that." She replied "But why? He brought you back beat up and bloody. You are lucky I healed you or you wouldn't have survived. Then he starts spouting this nonsense about a wolf and a forest and the ground. I don't get it. He's a complete lunatic, and you want to go back out with him?"

"You don't get it, do you?" I stared at her in shock. "He saved me from another wolf in the forest. He was injured from it, so was I, and I healed him. It made him loopy. And it made me faint. I woke up and he drove me here at my request."

Rachel sat down beside me, so I took the opportunity to tell her something "When we were there, he did something I have only seen a master earth mover do. At the demonstration, remember?" She gave a fast nod "He made the ground heave, like in a wave." I mimicked a wave hitting something "and attacked the wolf like that."

"Wow." Rachel breathed. "do you think he specialized in earth?" We had specialized in school just before we left, but we did something unheard of, we each specialized in all five of the elements. Fire, earth, air, water, and spirit. My favorite to use was fire. The offensive element. Rachel's favorite was earth. The relatively passive element. Our favorites made sense, since she was the non-violent one, and I was the aggressive one.

"duh." I answered. "But regardless of what he specialized in, I'm going to Harmon at nine. Just thought you should know." I stood up to leave

"Wait," she stopped me "Is he from the school? Did he come for us?"

"He is from the school, but he didn't even know we were here. He was a regular." I answered "But, anyway, if he was here for us, he would have left me for dead in the forest then come for you later."

Rachel breathed a sigh of relief "OK, but be careful."

"Always." I said over my shoulder as I walked out of my room and to the washing machine. I opened the door, and behold. There was my swimsuit! Rachel was always taking my stuff and washing it. It was part of her OCD nature. But thank god she wasn't overboard OCD. Just a little bit, and sometimes, it drove me up the walls. But I tolerated it because she was my best friend. I washed up and changed in the nearest bathroom and came out in my swimsuit and cover. It took me about an hour and a half to get it all done. Rachel was running around the place like a crazed toddler. _She must have found my chocolate stash. _I thought. Then she jumped clear over the couch. The long way. And believe me, that was a big couch. It seated five people on a bad day, seven on a good one. My next thought was. _She must have found everything I keep hidden from her._

It reminded me of the time when we were five years old. We were staying at her parents place, before they got into the crash, and before we were even turned into vampires. The babysitter was otherwise occupied, AKA, we tied her up and put her into the closet. So we were free to do what we wanted, technically. We had found the stash of chocolate and other candies, red bull, amp, that sort of stuff, and we ate/drank it all. Giving us the best sugar rush ever. We were climbing the walls, literally, and sliding down the banisters, stuff like that. When her parents came home, they freed the babysitter and locked us in Rachel's room. They only gave us bread and water for a day. It took us three days after that to get the sugar out of our systems and calm us down.

Anyway, back to the present.

I jumped in front of her path and caught her around the middle. She collapsed right away, giggling like an idiot. "Ohmygod Jenny, don't scare me like that. I knew you were fast, but not that fast. I mean, I love this. I feel awesome." Then she yelled "whooooooooooooooo hooooooooooooo! I haven't done this in forever!"

I stooped down to her level for a minute "How much did you find?"

"Oh, about three red bull, four amp, and seven candies." She said, while looking up at me innocently

"Single things or cases?" I asked

"Cases." She giggled, looking down.

"How did you find them and eat/drink them that fast?" I was so confused "I was only in there for an hour and a half."

She just giggled in response.

"Whatever. You better calm down before your boyfriend gets here, assuming I'll let him in after this episode." She was so hyper that she was trembling from head to toe. "Go to your room, and I'll let you come out when you have calmed down."

She didn't like that "You're not my mom." She pouted.

"No, I'm not." I answered "But I'm the closest thing you have to one right now. We can't do this stuff now, not while we could still be on the radar. Now go please."

She did.

I sighed heavily and sat down onto the couch that Rachel had jumped over earlier and checked my phone again. "Holy crap!" I exclaimed. I had been out for five days! Rachel must have been responding to my messages and charging the phone for me. _Wow. Five days._ I told myself.

There was a knock at the door. Probably Taylor coming over to see Rachel again. He lived three blocks away in another apartment and worked part time as an auto mechanic. Rachel and I worked also, but we worked as the managers of Victoria's Secret. But, that was our half day job. The other half day, Rachel worked as a vet at her own office, and I was a private practice doctor, like a house call doctor. The both of us had spent the time that we had away from the school learning everything about medical stuff. With our infinate memories, we could remember it all with perfect clarity. Weee, anyway, back to the story. We were currently using our pooled vacation days from Victoria's Secret, which added up to about the whole summer, give or take a couple of days. And we were loving it. (Ba da ba da da, I'm lovin it!)

I greeted Taylor with the usual pleasantries and invited him to anything in the house.

"Where's Rachel?" He asked almost immediately.

"On a sugar high, in her room." I replied automatically, and his face lit up like a christmas tree.

"Can I go in?" He asked eagerly

"Be careful, she's had a lot of sugar." I warned him.

"I can handle it." He replied

"Well then, It's your life." I countered "I don't care what you do with it."

He opened the door to her room, and was pulled in by a probably still hyper Rachel.

"Be good you two." I shouted, then slammed the door behind them and left.

I climbed into the drivers seat of my car and headed out. It occurred to me that this was the one I left at the forest. But, whatever, Rachel probably got it for me. It was 8:45, plenty of time to get to Harmon. I took a deep breath to center myself, and opened my senses. Then, I did what I do best. I mind read. When I concentrated, I could read everyone's mind within a 15 mile radius. Rachel highly disapproved of it, so I only practiced it in secret. I probed back to Rachel's room, and got sucked into her head.

Crap.

_Ohmygod. _I thought as his hands slid down my back. This has to be illegal. I sucked in a quick breath when his shirt came off. His impressive muscles never ceased to amaze me. I myself didn't look so bad in my yellow and pink polka dot swimsuit. But I only had a second to ponder all of this before his lips were on mine again. _Wait. _I thought. _Someone's in my head. _I moved out from under Taylor, rubbing my temples. Then it clicked… _JENNIFER. _I yelled as loud as I could in my head. _GET. OUT!_

_Oh crap. _I thought, finally back in my own head. _Rachel's going to kill me._ "Oh well, better enjoy my time left." I laughed, then sped away toward the direction of the pool. The lights were on, so I parked right up close. Jake was there waiting for me. I scaled the fence, like I had done so many times before, and then dropped to the other side.

Jake came up beside me and put his arm around my waist. Which I shook off. But not after savoring the moment a little. I had to admit, I liked that he took control of the 'relationship'.

"After you." Jake bowed and gestured past himself, which drew a giggle from me. I made a show of walking past him.

I set my bag and my towel down beside his stuff, and heard Jake's sharp intake of breath as I took off my cover. I turned a little, just enough to see that his jaw had dropped. Oh yeah. I looked good. Yeah, I know that sounds vain, but I thought I was hot. So sue me. "See anything you like?" I asked coyly.

He turned away, embarrassed, but I thought I heard him say under his breath "Oh yeah." Then, he turned and pulled his own shirt off.

Wow. He was ripped, and built like a sports player. His muscles could have rivaled Taylor's!

He turned to me, probably expecting the same face he had earlier, on me. But, haha, I had already composed myself and was using my poker face. "Impressive." I said in monotone, then turned to make sure I had everything. My mind was still open, so I could feel it when confusion and disappointment washed over him.

He dove in, splashing me as he did. And, due to my girlish nature, I squealed. Jake laughed from somewhere behind me. I turned and ran, dead on, straight at the pool. Jake looked scared as hell. So, at the last second, I pushed off and did a flip right over his head. I landed in the pool with a dive that would have taken my head off if I hadn't stuck my hands out to push off the bottom. The water was just the right temperature .

I surfaced to see the astonished look on Jake's features again, so I took advantage of his surprise and swam closer. I put my hand on his jaw and said as sensually as I could "Close your mouth, you'll catch flies."

That drew a genuine laugh from him, not those uneasy ones that I usually got from people. He pushed away, floating on his back.

"Hey." I called after him. He stood up; his face questioning "What element did you specialize in?"

"Earth. But I can do some things with everything, and this weird ability to see into other people's dreams, and sometimes walk into them. It's really weird. Wait, Why?" He answered

"Oh, nothing." I replied

"Well, what element did you specialize in?" He countered

"It's complicated."

"Bull crap." He replied "Just tell me."

"All of them."

"What?" He asked

"I specialized in all five." I answered

"Show me." Jake demanded

"What? That's it? No questions?" Now I was astonished

"Well, I figure it is what it is, and I cant change it." He said wisely. "Now will you please show me?"

"Why not." I concentrated on the elements. First fire; I sent it toward the water, careful to keep it just millimeters off of the water, so it looked like it was dancing on the water.

At the same time I blew air all around the both of us, made the trees bend over backwards, and had the pool shoot streams of water in the air. And I had to say, I really liked using all of the elements again, well, except for spirit. I desperately hoped that no one was near enough to see my show.

For a finale, I stopped everything, except for water, which I made swirl around us. Jake's mouth dropped. And so I let go of the magic. The water dumped down on the both of us. Which made him laugh again as he brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Wow." He said simply. It felt so good to use the elements in public, and not in secret like I usually do.

"Yeah. Rachel and I practice physical stuff in private, after work in the fall and spring. I practice spirit, and the things that are less noticeable all the time, in all seasons." I replied, then added quickly "But don't tell Rachel I do that, she would freak."

Swimming back over to me, he laughed "Don't worry." He reassured me. Then he went under. And since we didn't really need to breath like normal humans, he could probably stay there for awhile.

I followed him under soon after. He was already circling me like a sexy shark. I centered myself, closed my eyes, and used water to push him closer to me. And when I opened my eyes, he was right next to me, looking surprised once again. I laughed silently and pushed off toward the deep part of the pool. One look back told me that Jake was doing the same. I skimmed along the bottom till I reached the wall. I turned and mouthed to Jake, when he got close enough. _Watch this._

I reached for the air above with the magic, and then dragged it under the water, creating a bubble around the both of us. We were both standing on the bottom of the pool, making it easier to keep the bubble intact.

"Impressive." Jake commended, and then mumbled under his breath. "showoff."

I laughed again, relaxing slightly. Then, Jake did something completely unexpected. He leaned forward, wrapped his arm around me, pulling me closer, and kissed me. I put my arms around him also, and the kiss deepened. My control wavered, and suddenly the bubble was gone. Warm water rushed over us quickly, making us pull apart. We surfaced soon after, laughing like idiots.

"Well, that was interesting." Jake commented, while swimming around.

We laughed and played around for awhile. Then my stomach started to rumble. My thirst then hit me like a freight train. _I haven't hunted in a week_. I realized. And I was HUNGRY!

"Um, Jake?" I asked

"Yes?" He answered

"Um, I haven't hunted in a week, so…"

"Oh, yeah, of course. Let's get out of here and find something to eat." He swam to the edge, me right behind him. We climbed out into the balmy night air at around 10:15 according to the clock. The stars were shining brightly overhead, and the only sound that could be heard was the sound of our breathing and sounds of night life in the trees nearby. I could hear a deer scurry through some underbrush about a mile away and a rabbit hop closer to the fence, wondering what we were.

I immediately closed my mind off from outside minds. I didn't like being in my prey's minds. It freaked me out too much. I gathered up my stuff and put my cover on. Jake motioned for me to put my extra stuff in his half-full bag. I did. He then threw the bag out into the trees, scaling the fence after it. I opened all my senses, except for my mind reading, and felt that there was a herd of deer nearby. I headed in that direction.

"Where are you going?" Jake asked. "The people are that way." He pointed.

"I don't eat people." I replied smoothly "I eat animals, preferably mountain lions or some kind of big animal. They pose more of a challenge to me." Jake stared at me like I was a martain.

"What?" I said. "Don't look at me like that." Then I plunged into the woods after the deer, honing in on the buck. The biggest in the herd. I came to a complete stop when I got to be three yards away. I crouched, listening. Then I sprung out from the cover of the underbrush and onto the back of my deer. I clamped my jaws down on its neck. It was over in a minute. _Ugh. _I thought. I didn't like doing this to animals, but it was necessary. I let out a sigh and my thirst flared up again, so I gave chase to the rest of the herd. Jake was already there, finishing off a doe. We were finished with the herd in about five minutes. When I finished, I felt sloshy, and full. Jake looked like he had done something bad. He looked constipated and grossed out. It was the same look Rachel had, and probably the same look I had when we tried animals the first time.

"I still like humans better." Jake complained, pouting.

"Then hunt them on your own schedule." I retorted. And Jake smiled a little. But still looked kind of grossed out.

"How do you do this?" He asked

"Willpower. Humans still make me thirsty, but barely now that I'm used to animals." I replied

"Wow." He said again.

I started walking toward town, and the bag we left over by the pool fence. Jake reached it first and threw my cell and a towel at me. I used the towel to dry out my hair as faster than hair dryer would, then checked my phone. Rachel had sent me a message saying _How's it going?_

I texted _Fun. We hunted a herd of deer._

The reply was quick. _Tell all when u get home._

I laughed at that. Then I turned quickly, Jake was standing right behind me, reading over my shoulder. I prepared to rebuke him, but stopped. He didn't do anything wrong, he was just curious. I calmed myself down quickly. Jake was laughing quietly to himself. Obviously enjoying my little angry spell. "I'm going home." I stated then started walking toward my car.

"Wait," Jake said, taking my arm and spinning me around. "Don't leave! I'm sorry. I just thought it was a little funny, that's all."

I relaxed completely, finally trusting him. "Ok." I held out my hand

He took it, and we ran.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

We stepped onto the front porch of my house about ten minutes later, smiling happily. Jake had pulled me to a stop when we reached my street and took me in his arms. He leaned down, and his lips brushed mine again. I immediately threw my arms around him and kissed back. It was wonderful. But, soon, he pulled away, smiling and looking into my eyes. I suddenly hated the idea of going home and leaving him. We then walked slowly down the street to my house after that, holding hands again. I stopped on the porch and turned to face him. He was right beside me, so close we were almost touching. Embarrassed, I mumbled "Good night."

He leaned down again to kiss me.

After we were done, he whispered in my ear "Good night beautiful." Then he was gone. I stood there for a little bit longer, staring at the spot where he was a moment ago. I wished this night would never end. I loved it so much, the swimming, the hunt, the kisses.

I turned and opened the door. Rachel was at my side in a second, pulling me in the rest of the way, and to her room. Music was coming from her stereo. Her room set was the exact same as mine, only her room was lime green and pink. Mine was royal blue. My furniture was bleach white. Hers was dark mahogany. "Ok." Rachel asked "What happened?"

"All right, here it is." I told her "But no interruptions." I proceeded to tell her every little detail of me and Jake's date. The, show, the kissing, the hunt, and, wait for it, the run/walk home. The whole story took me about half an hour to complete. When I was done, Rachel let out a deep breath and looked at me weird.

"What?" I asked

"You told him our secret?" She looked at me sadly, the she looked afraid "What if he uses it against us?"

"He won't." I reassured her "Believe me." And she visibly relaxed.

"Oh, and what were you doing in my head earlier?" She grilled me, looking fierce.

"Gotta go." I said and dashed out of the room.

As I ran, I heard Rachel yell after me. "This isn't over!" Then she laughed.

I got a glimpse of Taylor slipping out the front door as I slipped into my room, and I thought, just for a moment, _Why is he being so sneaky about it?_ But then I dismissed the thought as paranoia. I flopped down onto my bed and reminisced about what all happened today, or tonight. However you want to look at it. Before I knew it, I was asleep, and dreaming about Jake again.

Once again, the dreams started out normal, romantic, stuff like that. First Jake and I were back at Dalmatian Beach. We were both looking over sea, and getting sprayed by the surf as it came in. I was nestled in his arms, in a pure white dress. Jake was in a button-up shirt and shorts. The shirt was open.

Then, the scene changed. It was us again, but this time, we were on top of a sky scraper. And here's the weird part, Michael was there, and he looked angry. He was yelling in Spanish at Jake, and Jake was looking just a bit scared. I could speak Spanish fluently, so it was no problem for me to understand what he was saying. In fact. When Me and Michael used to date, we would hold most of our conversations in Spanish.

What Michael was yelling translated into "How dare you! You better back off of her, she is supposed to be mine, and you won't stand in my way!" Jake was holding his hands up in a gesture of peace, but that didn't stop Michael. He shoved Jake off the building.

I chose that moment to find my voice, and fight back. "No!" I screamed, then ran at Michael. Now he looked scared as I charged him. I grabbed him by the shirt and flung him around, straight over the other side of the building. Then, I turned and went over after Jake.

Then, the scene changed again. Jake and I were still in the dream, and unfortunately Michael was there too. The scene, this time, was a train. Jake and I were both passengers in a cute area with a table, a wrap around booth, and everything, and Michael was nowhere in sight. Jake and I were totally oblivious to everything, giggling and talking, and stuff like that. That's when everything went wrong. Michael, who had just appeared, stood up in his seat and came over to us. He was holding a gun and aimed it right at me. Jake's head suddenly snapped up and he moved toward me protectively. I only now realized what was happening and I looked up straight down the barrel of a .45 pistol.

I took Jake's hand instinctively. He squeezed twice, the signal to move. Michael fired at the same time that we ducked out of the way.

We both got under the table at the same time and Jake moved forward.

"No!" I called after him and scrambled to get out as fast as he did. I got out and stood up just as the gun went off again. I saw Jake's body slump to the floor and I turned. He reached out a hand toward me and I took it again, pulling him closer till he was just over my legs. He was shot straight in the stomach, and it looked bad. He smiled sadly and raised his hand to stroke my cheek. We didn't speak the whole time this happened, but I could see the sadness in his eyes.

I didn't realize it before, but tears were rolling down my cheeks. I looked into my boyfriends eyes one more time and then looked up at Michael. He had the gun lowered, but not for long. He smiled as he raised the gun again.

He shot once, then it was all over.

I bolted upright in my bed right as the clock hit three in the morning. I had to do something about this. These nightmares would be the end of me some night. But most of all, I had to keep Jake from taking me any place that involved tall buildings, and what was that other thing? I knew that I had another dream, but it had escaped me like most of my dreams do. God, I just couldn't remember.

I flopped back down on my bed and tried to slow my pounding heart. Then, unexpectedly, I turned over and screamed into my pillow. I calmed down instantly after that and realized that I was so tired. It felt like I hadn't slept at all. So I decided to do a little dream walking. I relaxed myself and let my mind wander. I was quickly sucked into the half-sleeping state that dream walking brought on.

I stumbled onto Rachel's dream first. It was very simple, and romantic. She and Taylor were walking hand in hand on the beach. Standard romantic scene, but soon Rachel saw me in her dream. She screamed, and her face darkened "Jenny!"

I jumped out of her dream as fast as I could.

My thoughts wandered to the date that ended just a couple hours ago and I was swept, right away, to Jake's head, and consequently, his dream. His dream was way better than Rachel's, even though it was way simpler. His dream was just him, in his room, I think, on his bed, staring out a window and drawing. The drawing was more amazing than anything I have ever seen. It wasn't finished, but It was drawn with precise detail and shape. I cleared my throat to make my presence known. His head snapped up and one hand unconsciously covered the drawing

"What? How?" He stuttered.

"Dream walking. Are you even asleep?" I asked

"No." he answered

"Oh!" I sighed. That explained it. I wasn't in a dream after all. This situation is what vampires call being Spirited. That means that instead of going to a person's dream, our spirit is transported to the place that the person is. That is essentially what Dream walking is, pushing your spirit into others dreams. I had experienced this once, it scared the hell out of me.

"How are you here?" It was his turn to ask.

"Umm, I'm not really all here. What you see is my spirit. If you touch me, it would feel like I'm here. But the real me is asleep in her bed. In short, I was spirited here." Jake stared at me in disbelief. So I decided to change the subject. "So this is where you live!"

I scanned the room. I was dark navy in color with very little furniture, and what little furniture he had was shoved off to the side, leaving a lot of room. I went over to where Jake was sitting and plopped down next to him.

"Yeah." He replied. And hid his drawing. Very smooth.

I laid down next to him sneakily and pulled the drawing away. He started to protest and reach to get it back, but I turned out of his reach. I got a really good look at it and gasped. It was me! Well, it looked as if it had started out as landscape, just random flowers and stuff like that, but as it came toward the center, it took the shape of my face. It looked as if I was born from the earth, like I was one with the earth. I don't know how I could tell, but I just could. Anxiety was rolling off of Jake who was right beside me, practically on top of me, trying to get his picture back. I handed it back, breathless. "I really like it." I said, looking down.

"No one is supposed to see it, and it's not even finished." He replied angrily. I looked up and saw that he had turned away, clearly angry and perturbed at me. So I hung my head again.

When I brought it up again, roughly three minutes later, he was turned partially toward me, his face full of indecision. I reached across the space between us, touching his shoulder. He didn't respond, so I pull myself closer. "I'm sorry." I said, in the most innocent and sad voice I could manage. Then I hugged him. His body was rigid and I could feel all his muscles bulging under his shirt. He smelled nice, like he had just showered. All of this just made me more attracted to him, besides the fact that I hugged him way too long while I pondered these facts. His emotions quickly turned from anger, to acceptance, and finally to confusion and happiness. Happiness probably because I was hugging him and apologizing. Confusion probably because he wondered why I was hugging him for so long. Which in turn, of course, made me laugh.

He finally decided he wasn't mad at me anymore and turned to me, holding me by the shoulders. He looked into my eyes for a couple seconds then looked away, moving closer to the bottom of the bed.

Without knowing it, I moved in sync with him. And then he noticed that I wasn't going to let him leave without me, so he moved closer and took me in his arms. He laid us both down so that my head and one of my hands rested on his chest. I could hear his heartbeat, soft and steady; it lulled me. I relaxed and closed my eyes.


End file.
